Father's love on a Prodigal Son like me!! (Luke 15: 11-23)

The Son made his way out of his father's beautiful country into an unkonown one. There, he spent all that he got in "loose living" (RSV), which means he led an exciting and thrilling and adventurous life which was perfectly acceptable with the world. By the way, how many of you think that 'sinful life' is not exciting? Exactly the opposite is the truth, sinful life is always exciting which people always look forward to. It is 'exciting', but it is 'transcinet' just like 'vapour', it is there for a moment and vanishes within no time. But the problem occurs when we do not have strength to resist the so called 'transcinet temptation'. Instead of resisting it, we embrace it because we do not have the strength to fight against it. Eventually the so called 'Transcient Temptation' becomes a 'Permanant Temptation'; unless God gives the strength, we cannot leave it just because it is too sweet to leave. In addition to that, our guilt piles up!! May God be our help to resist the tempatation and to deliver us from evil. The reason for this is because, we have run away from the 'Father', had we been with the him, he would have come to our rescue, now, who is going to bother? who will come to our aid? The fact is no one. Frankly speaking, why should anybody spend a  second for you when you never had time  for anybody in the past? People always do 'tit for tat' but priase God that He never doest that. Remember, Father didn't leave the son, it was his own decision to go away.

The son lost all that he got, and remained there all alone! What a tragedy, all alone by himself!! But that's a good one as God orchestrates all things well in advance. It was God's plan that he should be alone. It is good to be alone. Not many knows what it means to be alone with God. We live in a nation where lonliness is out of question with small houses crammed with people, even though it is not an excuse to be with God, but it is a fact, where there is a will, there is a way. Now, my friend, take a minute and reflect on your life; where are you standing in the light of God? Get away from people and pray to God to be reconciled!! I will come back to the story in my next post, God willing. 

Father's Love on a Prodigal Son like me!!(Luke 15:11-23)

Why should ever Father have showed such love upon me (should I call it love or wisdom, I don't know) by giving me my share in his property was the point where I left in my previous post. How could he do that knowing the kind of person I am? But the father remained silent and let his son do whatever he wanted. The son came, asked and got what he wanted and vanished; he didn't have time to think what a turmoil the father would have gone through; it must have been very hard for the father to see his son going away; away from his vicinity, far away from his love and affection. This is where we need to pause for a while and think; we must not turn our backs to God regardless of the innumerable oppurtunites we are given to seek Him and to reconcile with Him. When we do, the chances are very slim to remain within God's reach because He will let us go wherever we want and do whatever we want. King pharaoh and the king Saul are classic examples where people denied God, having seen His might. Al though God doesn't act like this with all His children but some hard- hearted, unfeelingful, unrepentant children will have to face 'abandonment' forever. What we can understand if we rundown through this story is that if we get away from God, we might forever lose Him as well!!?? This has to be true from human perspective and the reason for that simply because we do not know whom God will restore, al though God's children will never be lost !! And therefore, the summary is 'do not ever think or attempt to run away from Him simply because it is too dangerous; you might as well never come back!! To our astonishment, this is not the case in this story. Father was always waiting for his son to come back because he knew he would return home at some stage. Now, where are you my friend? are you with the Father within His vicinity or away from Him, seeking those transient wordly pleassures?? Have you ever pondered upon the fact that He would actually wait for you to come to Him? This is a staggering thought to end with; none other than God himself is waiting for you to come is in deed a staggering thought, isn't it? I shall come back to this ever- fascinating story in my next post..but you take a time to think about life- changing truths, will you?!!   

     

Father's Love!

Every time I read this parable of 'Prodigal Son', my heart melts. This is a fascinating story narrated by the Lord Jesus Christ himself; a story of love and affection and kindness. Millions of sermons might have been preached on that very subject but none could have possibly posessed the Lord's unique art of preaching with the aim to reach out to people from all walks of life. And this story is also a living example of the relevance of God's word for modern times!!

Coming back to the point, when the son came to his father and asked for his portion of property; very surprisingly, the father gave consent to let him have his share in it. Generally, it is very unlikely that a father would have agreed to his son's suggestion of taking half or some of his father's property away with him. Well, certainely, this is not what we see regularly in India. Fathers demand respect in here, and rightly so, having cared for their children right from the beginning, they deserve respect from them. But fathers, in general, like to think that they are the bosses! and they dream of their children becoming bosses at some stage when they are grown up.'How much have you earned?', 'how much is your son earning?' are the kind of stereo type questions go round and round in all classes and sections of the society. When people are obsessed with money, how can anyone expect to lose it just like that! A normal reply, when a son comes to his father for his share of property, would be 'how dare you come to ask that?!', ' what right do you have?'. But the father we are talking about must be completely differrent from the fathers of the world. The question is, why did he give his son, when didn't have to and especially when he knew the fact that he was a pleasure seeking person? You think about it, I will continue it in my next post, God willing. 

  

   

A Living Sacrifice unto God (Rom 12:1).

We need to present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God. Our bodies need to be 'living' but at the same time, they need to be 'sacrificing' as well. How do you reconcile with this seemingly apparent 'contradiction'?. I think the best way to understand this is by turning our minds to the 'burning bush' where God spoke to Moses (Ex 3:1-3); 'Moses' was awe- struck when he saw the 'bush' was burning but not being 'consumed'. Even a kid can say when somebody asks him 'what happens when you lit a bush on fire or a plant for that matter?'; he says without any hesitation that 'it will be burnt!!'. Here, to our astonishment, the 'bush' is burning but it is not 'burnt'. 'What!! is it burning properly?' somebody yells. Moses would have thought 'The one who set fire to it was none other than God himself, so surely it was burning'. Do we see the analogy here; 'burning' represents the sacrificial part. The object of sacrifice always needs to experience the pain and suffering. Turn your minds for a minute on that 'Lamb' which had to go though the painful experience of being killed before the alter in the Old Testament. For the object of 'sacrifice'; death is what assured; it is certain. It will die in a minute or so after it was slaughtered. But the 'bush' wasn't being consumed.

I think, this is what it means when the Apostle said ' present your bodies a living sacrifice unto God..'. We need to be dead to sin but live for God (Rom 6:5 to 11). We formerly used our bodies as a medium though which all the sinful activity took place. Our bodies were the objects of death. And we were slaves of sin and Satan (Eph 2:1 to 3). But now, having been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, we no longer present our bodies to sin or Satan but to God alone. A living sacrifice? What sacrifice can we offer when the ultimate 'sacrifice' was already paid, that is why all that we do is termed as 'our reasonable service'(KJV) or 'our spiritual worship' (RSV). Do you live for 'Christ' from now on?

Presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice..(Rom 12:1)

What did the Apostle Paul mean when he said "present your bodies a living sacrifice ....unto God"?; as I was grappling to understand what it exactly means; my mind some how turned to the sacrifices of the old testament. The pictures of the sacrifice surely should have been very graphic. When Adam and Eve crossed the God given boundaries by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree, they stood naked and guilty which means God had every right to do whatever he wanted do with them as they brought disharmony into the God's world. Here we understand that by crossing the God given borders, we not only bring disharmony into our world (our homes, families..etc) but also bring devastation on us. So 'sin' generates multiple consequences. When Adam and Eve stood naked and guilty; God, instead of wiping them off; he chose to provide a way by giving them skin-coats. Surely God must have killed an animal to cover the naked bodies of Adam and Eve. And they must have been the witnessed to the animal killing. If they were to be covered; the killing should have taken place. Here the animal was killed for somebody else's trespass. Surely the couple would have understood the seriousness of their act against God's will (read Genesis ch 3); a part of God's creation was sacrificed. God decided to give the humans a second chance instead of imposing penalty directly on them. This is where we see God as a God of Grace and Mercy.

The very meaning of 'sacrifice' tells that something or someone dies on somebody's behalf or something valuble is given up in order that one may live or be happy. What is this 'living sacrifice' then? When we offer sacrifice, that will die. But when we offer ourselves, we must die too. But the Apostle is asking us to be 'living sacrifices'. How can you answer this 'apparent contradiction'? ..I shall try to glean some more thoughts in my next post, God willing, only with His help.

I can't 'change' myself!!

I wrote in my previous blog that we all wish to be changed at some point. We keep looking at others thinking that if only we are like them; how nice that would be! What I have learnt in my life is that I can't change myself. I just can't give up something which I hold very dear to myself; in most cases it is 'sinfulness'. I say to myself that what profit is there if I give up on this ? Am I going to be happy if I give 'it' up? The Gospel promises that we are going to be very happy if only we trust God not by giving up 'sin'!! How easy!! When we trust God; He enables us to give 'sin' up for the sake of being holy as He is holy. It is interesting that God doesn't allow us to trust in Him with out giving up on 'sin'. He gives us hope and strength to leave 'sin' away but it is not the first step we must take when we come to Christ. We must come to Him as we are.

How the above said is connected with the subject 'change'? Well, the fact is there are not many people who would like to change their lives. They are pretty much happy with the way they are. In other words they haven't got bored with their lifestyles. The reason for this is 'sin'. And 'sin' is the most exciting and adventurous phenomena in the world. So to change ourselves by giving up 'sin' is going to be very tough and look very foolish from world's point of view. Though there aren't many who wish to be changed; there are a few; who are fed up with their sinful lives; who think they are exhausted; who think their lives are not worthy to be continued; who think they cannot get over their past; who think they have done irreparable damage to themselves and also to others....It is those people who will a see a pair of hands 'welcoming' them not to an earthly kingdom but to a heavenly one for it is Jesus who said 'come unto me, all ye heavy laiden, I will give thee rest' (Mat 11:28).

So are trying to to change yourself? I promise you cannot. Though you might argue with me by saying 'Impossible is nothing';but the reality remains the same as we remain unchanged. It is not superficial change we are talking about; it has got be a 'complete' change which includes all dimensions in human body and soul. It only happens when we come to Christ as we are and ask for 'forgiveness'.

Have you ever felt the need to be 'changed'?

'Change' is something we all have to welcome at some point in our lives whether
we like it or not. Even the older people,nowadays, are adapting themselves to modern ways and to all the technological advancement. It is not a matter of being fashionable but it is a need now; otherwise; how can folk keep in touch with their people on the other side of the globe except via Internet? I think I have just slipped aside from the point I would like to write a bit elaborately; instead of telling you about the need to be changed; I was all in praise for the 'Modern Technology'.

How often I felt like saying to myself 'if only I am like that faithful pastor who serves Christ in that remote village..'. We often tend to look at people and compare ourselves with their personality, attitude, accomplishments, credentials...and we are over the moon when we think we outran them and suddenly we are gloomy and deeply dejected because we think that they outran us. It all depends how we look at things. I believe both the things are bad. As Dr Peter Masters says " we swing like a pendulum swings to one extreme or the other". It is very important to get things right and to put the things in the right perspective; we need to have a balanced mind. The thing is, even though it is not always good to compare ourselves with others; we can compare ourselves with others in spiritual matters. Even the Apostle Paul encourages his fellow believers to be like him or to imitate him as he imitates Christ.

We get bored when we keep doing things we always do. That's why we shout, at some point, 'give me a break buddy!!'; we tend to unwind ourselves as we driver along, or by listening to some music or by doing some 'excercise'..but the reality is that we bump into 'boredom' once again and alas even the 'remedy' for 'boredom' becomes 'boring' as well. This is all a part of trying very hard to 'change' ourselves. But can we change ourselves? Does it happen to us? Or is it just a distant mirage which never appears to be true? I hope to discuss this with those who have some serious intentions to experience 'change' in their lives in my next post.

Sharing the Gospel with the Chenchus!

‘Chenchus’ are one of the most backward tribes in ‘Andhara Pradesh’. They live in far off jungles under thatched roofs. They still hunt; the flora and fauna is their greatest asset. They like to call themselves the 'Sons of Jungle'. If a chechu's arrow flies, I can guarantee you that it won't miss the target; the arrows are thrust with a mighty force that it is driven right through; most of the time, animals become prey due to his hunger but occasionally humans too due to his uncontrolled anger. unlike ‘Banjaras’ (which is also a tribe) who have made considerable progress in utilizing Government’s services. But ‘Chenchus’ do not like to come out of their Tribal shell, as it were, to see the outer world. As a result of that, they are prone to get all the diseases and whatever they earn,they like to spend on ‘drinking’.

The Lord called Pastor. Ruben to serve amongst ‘Chencus’ nearly 10 years ago. Previously he used to be an evangelist in his village only. Now his ministry is extended to several other hamlets including ‘Chenchugudem’ . We were able to build a church with the help of 'Metropolitan Tabernacle'; London for these people for which they praise God. Nearly 20 to 30 attend on regular basis. If they are off to jungles, only 15 to 20 (mostly ladies) will remain. Pastor Ruben is planning to offer food for free for as many as many attend the church on Sunday, as this will enable them to come for something to eat both physical and spiritual food. Please pray for these tribal people that they may not become a prey to their carnal desires as we have to do the same for us.

I Love 20-20!!!

How I cherish the memories of India winning the 20-20 world cup 2007 in South Africa. No Bollywood script writer would have written such a thrilling final between the arch rivals India & Pakistan. What more would have any cricket lover expected than a nail-biting finish to the slam bang 20-20 world cup in 2007. India entered the previous world cup as 'Under Dogs' not having any high hopes but ended up wining the world cup as they cruised to win one match after another though it was truly a battle right through to the end. Now, they enter this world cup as 'Defending Champions' with having high pressure of performing well right through out the tournament.

Yesterday, Netherlands beat England which sent shock waves to the Cricketing Fraternity. This is what 20 20 is all about. It gives minnows a chance to be World Champions as opposed the 50 50 matches where it is the reign of 'Kangaroos' most of the time. 20 20 is all about set backs and scintillating victories; set backs to the so called Giants and victories to the babes in Cricket.

I must admit that Cricket is a fantastic game but all in all it is too lengthy. Giving respect to the game it has always been, the X- Generation doesn't have patience nor time to appreciate its class. It's all about providing entertainment to the crowds. After all every game is for crowds without them there is no game at all. How I remember skipping the classes in the school just to play and watch this game, though I don't advice any kid to emulate what I did in my childhood, I cannot take away the beauty and charm this game has always possessed, and of course 20 20 added more beauty to it. India being one of the 'Common Wealth' countries, it inherited the Game from its Masters. Who would have ever expected that 'Cricket' would have one day become such an important part of life in the Sub- Continent; even to the extent that it would beat its Masters at some point.

I must confess that though one must not love anything or anyone more than Jesus; it has always have been challenging for me to put Cricket aside even today. May nothing become ever more precious than loving & serving Jesus Christ our Lord but He has also given us some thing to enjoy within its own limits. Enjoy watching 20 20 world cup in England!!

Who am I??

In the film 'Bourne Ultimatum' Jason Bourne; the hero forgets who he was; and the through out the film it was his mission to find out who he was and that too from the most complex clues.

Even when I was a child; this question used to pop in my mind very often. Especially when I wore new cloths or new shoes. I first used to look at the cloths that I wore and get fascinated by them and then the next thought would be like 'these cloths on what??!!' or ' are these shoes for my foot; oh gosh!!'. I used to look at my hands and used to look at them on and on trying to figure out what they actually were; the material it was made from; but I couldn't find an answer why those hands are linked to me or my mind?? and why am I saying to myself these are my hands; 'what is this so called feeling of being connected with 'me or my self'; what is this thing called 'me' or in other words 'what am I' or 'Who am I?'.

I think it is a serious question to ask ourselves, though it is a childlike one. Who are we? One might reply we are humans; of course we are; but when I ask who you are; don't just say you are a human; of course you are but think deep about who you are and how blessed you are to be born as a human and how different you are from other creatures and finally realise that you are created in the image and the likeness of God and you have a living soul. This soul is not mind as you would think but it is more than that. Just ponder on these thoughts and give me a reply when you can. I will be looking forward to that.

Don't harden your heart

What is heart? Is it a bodily part or the source of all emoti -

onal feelings? what does it mean when you say 'I am touched' or 'it's mind boggling'?!! Apart from being a bodily organ, it is the source of all emotional feelings; good and bad.

It is a warning to those who trust in the Lord that we must not harden our hearts which means that we must not give up the spiritual habits regardless of our feelings. The spiritual habits are just like bad habits or good habits that we nurture or enjoy. The only difference I have noticed between nurturing a bad habit and a good one is that it is easy to get swept away by the bad one; it pulls you off to its side and the effort from your side to be consistent may be minimal but to nurture a good one; one needs to be consistent and it is a hard work in a sense until you do it automatically without any extra burden or effort. And the spiritual habits are only two. One is to read the Word and the other is to pray to God. Not that our reading and praying is so beautiful that the Lord should answer our prayers but it is with the help from Him do we do these things; this is when we will easily get swept into the fold of keeping our spiritual habits with joy. But when you stop doing these things just because you are tired or had a bad day at office or a spat with a guy or a sin that you shouldn't have committed or your love is broken and the list goes on..When we stop praying and reading the Word; the very life to spirituality gets chocked; our hearts will get slowly hardened. It is a process and it doesn't happen over a night but the process continues and we cannot stop it until we throw ourselves at the feet of Christ. This is when preaching becomes boring, praying becomes the most undesired action. How is your heart to day? Is it hard or soft enough to cry to God?

Welcome to my town-Vinukonda!!

If you were to expect some pattern looking at the traffic in a town like 'Vinukonda' , I promise you, you would go mad. The truth is that there is no traffic pattern as such. Everybody drives as they like. I wonder what could be the reason behind it!!? Before we dig deep into it, one needs to ask why people should ever need a 'system' for anything or any purpose. What is promised in the absence of a proper system is 'chaos'. But wait a minute, why should people need rules?? Having heard what Protagonists of Post Modern Movement say that man is matured enough to control himself, I'm confused to see why he needs a rule to be controlled?

In the West, to appears as though all is neat and quiet. Everybody seem to follow the law with keener interest which is very much commendable as opposed to the system in India. However I am bewildered to see how people can be outrageously hypocritical when it comes to their person lives. They say they are born for freedom and ready to die for it; no interference is tolerated. Here rules are marginalised and rationalised. Objectively they follow rules but subjectively they do not like rules. Isn't there an apparent antithesis clearly visible? People are chaotic anywhere in the world. They are unable to control themselves. They need a guide to guide them.

It was Vinod dham, the designer of Pentium Chip once said in an interview that " it was the traffic pattern in India makes people even more competitive as every driver tries to create a space when there isn't much available." May be that is true to an extent. The point is we all need rules; whether they are subjective or objective. And remember, it is the source which ultimately matters. What source do you have to guide you? And what set of rules do you follow? Make the Word of God as your map and let God guide you to see through the unknown future.

Welcome to Vinukonda- My Town !!!

What you see in the picture is a Cinema Theatre. We have as many as 6 cinema theatres even in a relatively small town like 'Vinukonda'. People are truly crazy about movies in here. They worship heroes as if they are gods!! They form different associations for different popular heroes as if they are forming charitable associations doing some charity!!?? and the clash between the fans is an obvious fight. Every time a new cinema of a popular hero is released; something hazardous is bound to happen.

Probably, you have heard they say 'India is a land of Snake Charmers', but it is now a land of 2C's; if one 'C' stands for 'Cricket'; the other is for 'Cinema'. Nobody knows when the 'Hindi Film Industry' started to earn its name as 'Bollywood'; a replica to 'Hollywood' in the West. The only difference between the 'Hollywood' and the 'Bollywood' is that there are no songs in the Hollywood movies where are there plenty in the 'Bollywood'. Even our Telugu Cinema industry is also called as 'Tollywood'. Again nobody knows who termed it? The most tragic part is that, though people are getting entertained; often the cinema does nothing but cashes in human weakness for sin and promiscuousness and encourages to break all God's commandments. Gone are the days when the people wanted to put across some social message out to the public; now is the time for 'Nonstop Entertainment'. The story line swings according to the mood of the public. Many a youngster head for 'Hyderabad' or 'Mumbai' with the hope of becoming heroes and heroins, leaving their family and friends behind. Instead of becoming heroes and heroins, they become maniacs and prostitues. Before they realise that life is far more precious than being a hero in cinema, they are on the verge of eternity. It is all started off with having great expectations of their own; to become popular in the tinsel town; to earn millons of rupees; a shortcut to success and fame. And the tragedy hits when they terminate their lives abruptly, having seen their dreams shattered and hopes broken into peices. How sad we are! if only people know the truth, they could have avoided all this.

Should Christians watch cinemas? It's a debate. Remember, our 'Conscience' is the Police Man who is inside kept by the Lord. He presses the panic button every time we trespass the Lord's commandment, but do we wake up the call? It is not just a matter related to 'Cinema' but everything that we do needs to be watched through the eyes of God. We must question ourselves if what we do is pure, moral, and acceptable to God? Can you thank the Lord, having watched it or done it? or is it to gratify your lusts? Please read 1 Cor 10: 14- 33 and Publish your comments; we shall discuss.

Welcome to Vinukonda- My Town!!

Before I talk about my town; I wish you all a very happy New Year as our happiness lies in the Lord than it is in the world or in us. I have been running around all these days doing some good as well as some bad. One of the bad things I did was that I haven’t been able to write anything on the blog for quite some time.

The monument which is in 'red' stands for what the communists fought for. It was resurrected in the name of those communists who died fighting for their cause. My town Vinukonda has got a quite a bit of communism attached to it since many years. Though my state ‘Andhra Pradesh’ has never been ruled by the Communists; there are a few in India like ‘West Bengal’ and ‘Kerala. It is noteworthy that the development in communist ruled states is very marginal; though ‘Kerala’ seemed have made quite a bit of progress.

Though I see this monument as I ride past it on my motorbike everyday; it doesn’t speak to me anything. May be I am deaf to what it says or it is just not something I am interested in. There were times when I seriously thought why communism dwindled all across the globe except in Cuba and China. The greatest downfall would be the fall of the USSR when it couldn’t go on any further with the rampant corruption amongst the top rank Officials and Military Generals. The motto might have been good. Whatever insists on ‘Equality’ is good. But have they stuck to it? Did they make sure that their good mottoes implemented to the fullest extent? May be 'No'. Hang on a minute!! Where on earth does ‘equality’ exist? No where. Not even ‘Democracy’ has dealt with the problem effectively. What is amusing in ‘democracy’ is that if all want something; you must give it to them by all means whether it is right or wrong. How then, do you differentiate it from the struggle for existence theory where only the strong can survive?

I believe ‘Communism’ has its roots in the Bible; though a hard- core ‘communist’ wouldn’t agree with what I say because he denies the very existence of God; I heard someone saying that Jesus was a revolutionist; may be it was true in a sense; but it is only a half truth. One cannot ignore the reasons why He became a revolutionist. The Bible has ample evidence of people sharing what they had n equal measures before the Apostles when they distributed the food equally between the haves and have-nots (Acts4:32-37). Think about how your neighbour feels when he laments in abject poverty, do you flaunt with your smugness showcasing all that you have? Probably, this has been the very reason all the revolts broke out all the across the Globe down through the centuries. Are you walking in humility as Christ did. May be it is ever more difficult in the wake of the new age 'materialism'. But the Word remains the same from generations to generations and we have to obey what it says. Let us be content with what we have and on one hand and share what we have on the other.